Uganda’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs is finalising the development of the National Diaspora Policy 2026, which is expected to be completed next Financial Year – FY2026/27. The Policy is being designed to transition from a reliance on informal remittances toward structured investment in the country’s core economic sectors, with aim of ensuring better use of the funds for the remitter, the recipient and the economy as a whole.
The policy is aimed at further strengthening the protective frameworks that have been put in place to ensure that Ugandans work in a safe and productive environment. Some of the major highlights are transforming diaspora remittances, which now exceed 2.5 billion dollars annually, into structured investments in priority sectors like agribusiness, ICT, tourism, and real estate. This will be done alongside existing government pro-investment incentives like tax holidays, first-arrival privileges, and access to industrial land through the Uganda Investment Authority.
It also focuses on establishing formal legal mechanisms and bilateral labour agreements to protect Ugandans working abroad, particularly in regions where labour exploitation and human rights abuses have been documented.
They include direct violence meted on the workers by their bosses or supervisors, denial of medical access, unexplained deaths, withholding of pay and travel documents, among others. The Policy also aims to utilise diaspora mapping and registration drives, such as the One-Stop-App and National ID renewals, to build a comprehensive database of diaspora skills, location, and professional expertise for knowledge transfer programs.
The framework also provides a platform for the Ministry to work with the Bank of Uganda to lower the high costs of remittances, which BoU estimates at 15 percent, to global averages of about 6.5 percent, and exploring Government-backed Diaspora Bonds to provide secure, structured investment vehicles.
The UN Sustainable Development Goals target of the cost of remittances is 3 percent of the total amount being transferred.
“We need a law that clearly articulates how externalised labour is managed,” says Vincent Bagiire, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, while calling for a strong legislation. “Many Ugandans are sent abroad without sufficient safeguards. Once recruitment companies receive their money, they walk away from the worker. We keep receiving bodies of Ugandans who have died abroad, while many others remain stranded in shelters.”Such are the concerns that have been reported by Ugandans abroad and documented by the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development.
According to the 2024 Uganda National Population and Housing Census, at least two million Ugandans live and work abroad, with the main destinations being the Middle East, Europe, the United States, Canada, Kenya, South Sudan, and Rwanda.
The labour recruiting and exporting companies welcome the development, especially if it is going to reduce or curb the existence of illegal operators which they accuse of committing atrocities while the blame goes to the whole industry.
Winnie Catherine Banura, the Secretary General of Uganda Association of External Recruitment Agencies -UAERA, says there is need for strong government intervention with policies to support strong labour movement process.
“The Philippines, for example, has had the domestic work industry for 46 years because of the strong government intervention, instead of leaving theit entirely to the recruitment companies,” she says.
According to the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, the Fourth National Development Plan aims at increasing the percentage of remittances as a share of GDP from 2.6 percent in the 2023/2024 financial year, to 5.6 percent in 2029/2030.
The development of the National Diaspora Policy 2026 comes just after the launch of the launch of the National Migration Policy (NMP) to, among other things, help double the value of remittances to 5.6 billion dollars in five years.
The comprehensive framework is aimed at strengthening border management, protecting migrant workers and maximizing economic benefits of migration, including increasing Government revenue from immigration services, remittances, skills transfer and employment abroad.
In addition, the Policy aims at registering at least 300,000 Ugandans in the diaspora on a National Diaspora Database by 2028.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance reports that monthly remittance in March dropped from 248.8 million in February 2026 to 191.58 million dollars in March. This 23%reduction was mainly because of lower inflows from the US from 67 million to 54 million dollars.
The top five inflow corridors were United States of America, United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Canada, with total inflows of 146 million dollars, 74 million going towards family support-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
